VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

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Jennifer Nitrio can be described as a "one-woman cat rescue dynamo." In l997, Jennifer did it all  - -  trapped feral cats, taxied cats to the veterinarian, fed, fostered, and adopted out, and she did all these tasks by herself. However, what she didn't do in the beginning of her rescue work was return ferals to the environment.  "I trapped them," she said,  "and made them part of my family. I didn't know you released them."

Eventually, Jennifer found out that there were cat rescue groups doing what she was doing. So, in 2000, she joined a local group.

Jennifer kept many of the cats that she either trapped or found abandoned by people on her doorstep. In her household, she has cats that have survived being attacked by dogs or raccoons, have been hit by cars, are sick with food allergies, and or with herpes virus. She has kept the problem kitties and adopted out the healthy ones. 

Jennifer doesn't have a problem with integrating new felines into her household. She told me, "The tame ones teach the new ones. The established kitties are the mentors."

When I asked Jennifer how many cats she had at her home, she didn't hedge. "I have 14," she said, "which is entirely illegal."  She didn't mention how many fosters she has. When I asked her about supplies for the cats, Jennifer explained that her current feline population at home consumes about 250 pounds cat food and uses about 800 pounds of kitty litter every month. 

Jennifer is able to feed the neighborhood strays through donations and her own resourcefulness. "There are about 50 neighborhood stray and feral cats that come to my yard for feeding," she said. 

Jennifer told me about one of her rescue cats, Mr. Bones, who may be part bobcat. "He was attacked by a raccoon and as a result, had an eye removed. Mr. Bones develops ulcers when he is around other cats so he lives in my bedroom, separate for the rest of the kitties."

In 2000 and 2001, Jennifer and a retired Baltimore Police Officer friend did extensive night-time trapping along the American River. They would go out when most of us would be sleeping and trap feral cats. The sick or injured cats were put to sleep. The healthy and tame ones were adopted out. Jennifer and friend cleaned up the section of the river extending from Howe Avenue to Watt Avenue. 

"We had night vision glasses and we saw all the animals that come out at night," she said. "There was construction and levy work going on and the habitat was disturbed. We saw a lot of wildlife  - - including coyotes, jack rabbits, deer, opossum, raccoons and snakes. We had a lot of fun with the night vision glasses. You would be surprised at what you see at night."

Jennifer also saw squatters on the River. "There are people there who don't speak regular English as we know it.  They make little forts and they are dirty and hairy.  hey can be very protective of their area and they carry weapons. When we were trapping, we had to be careful of the squatters," Jennifer said.

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